Care of cancer survivors often falls shortMedPage TodayMost cancer patients enter survivorship with little direction from oncologists or primary care providers, according to a national survey.
Two-thirds of 1,130 oncologists said they always or almost always discuss survivorship with patients, but only a third told patients where to seek cancer-related or other care. Fewer than 5 percent of oncology respondents provided patients with a written plan for survivorship care.

Quadrivalent HPV vaccine effective in women with HIVInfectious Disease NewsThe quadrivalent HPV vaccine was safe and immunogenic among women aged 13 to 45 years with HIV, according to data published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. There was lower seroconversion among women with higher viral loads and/or lower CD4 counts. “HIV-infected women carry a disproportionate burden of HPV-associated diseases,” Erna Milunka Kojic, M.D., said. “Many have already been exposed to HPV infection and overall vaccine responses can be diminished with higher degrees of immunosuppression. Only 4 percent of the women in this cohort had been exposed to all four HPV types in the vaccine as measured by serum antibody titers, so the vast majority of HIV-infected women would likely benefit from receiving the vaccine.”

Research sheds new light on the development of HPV-associated cancerNews-Medical It's long been known that certain strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) cause cancer. Now, researchers at The Ohio State University have determined a new way that HPV might spark cancer development - by disrupting the human DNA sequence with repeating loops when the virus is inserted into host-cell DNA as it replicates.
Worldwide, HPV causes about 610,000 cases of cancer annually, accounting for about five percent of all cancer cases and virtually all cases of cervical cancer. Yet, the mechanisms behind the process aren't yet completely understood.

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CERVICAL CANCER

Study finds cervical cancer radiation therapy may heighten risk for colorectal cancerBioNews TexasRadiation therapy has long been used as a viable treatment option for cancer. While its benefits are well proven in a variety of oncological treatment settings, a new study has revealed that its use may have unintended consequences in treating certain types of cancer.
According to a recent news release from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston a group of researchers have revealed for the first time that young women who were previously given radiation treatment for cervical cancer may in fact be at greater risk for developing colorectal cancer as a result of the treatment, and thus should be screened earlier for the disease than when is traditionally recommended.

First genetic link discovered to difficult-to-diagnose breast cancer sub-typeMedical Xpress Scientists have identified the first genetic variant specifically associated with the risk of a difficult-to-diagnose cancer sub-type accounting for around 10-15 per cent of all breast cancer cases. The largest ever study of the breast cancer sub-type, called invasive lobular carcinoma, gives researchers important clues to the genetic causes of this particular kind of breast cancer, which can be missed through screening.

Blood test predicts breast cancer recurrenceCancer NetworkAs researchers continue to show that cell-free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) can be consistently detected in the blood of cancer patients, assays that can provide reliable information about a patient’s treatment progress or potential recurrence by a simple blood draw are becoming increasingly appealing. A new pilot study demonstrates the ability of a blood-based test to detect metastatic breast cancer recurrence, with high sensitivity and specificity. The ctDNA test “shows great potential for development as a clinical laboratory test for monitoring therapy and disease progression and/or recurrence,” concluded the study authors.